Gestures that are (Somewhat) Affectionate
by AuthenticAussie
Summary: The main problem, Sabo thought, as Luffy excitedly continued telling them about the tiger he'd apparently managed to take down by himself, with Luffy eating the rubber fruit isn't that it's a stupid power. He ducked, as Luffy's wayward limb flew over his head when he described the size of the beast, it's that he talks with his hands.


_The main problem, _Sabo thought, as Luffy excitedly continued telling them about the tiger he'd apparently managed to take down by himself, _with Luffy eating the rubber fruit isn't that it's a stupid power._

He ducked, as Luffy's wayward limb flew over his head when he described the size of the beast, _it's that he talks with his **hands.**_

When Ace and himself had first decided to accept Luffy as their brother, and they'd all drunk to each other, Sabo hadn't really envisioned himself caring as much about the slightly pesky kid that was no jubilantly chattering in front of him.

And yet, Luffy's story was bringing a grin to his face, and he almost wanted to tease Luffy about not bringing home the spoils of his catch (though he knew it was pretty likely that Dadan and the bandits had taken it and cut it up to preserve it for winter) to see his younger brother bluster and indignantly reply that he wasn't lying.

There were a lot of things that he'd learnt about his new brothers when they'd first started to live together, like Ace's tendency to fall asleep in random places and with almost no warning, and Luffy's tendency to talk with his hands.

That was a pretty important thing he'd learnt, actually. Even if they were trying to help Luffy train with his rubbery limbs, his control was still often spotty, and when he was excited his gestures began to fly all over the place…

And his fists along with them.

The first time one of them had gotten hit was when Luffy was telling them about Shank's huge ship docking in the port, a few weeks before he'd met the red haired pirate himself. While Sabo had been paying attention, knowing that Luffy thrived off the attention and knowing the feeling of being ignored by the ones who'd promised to care for you all too well, Ace had been distractedly scraping off part of the table with his fingernail.

So when Luffy's gestures got a bit _too _big, Sabo was able to dodge Luffy's hand with a startled yelp while Ace got slapped across the face, leaving a red and likely stinging welt that had Ace looking at Luffy in surprise and a bit of hurt.

Luffy's expression of anguish, had – of course – almost immediately soothed the betrayal in Ace's expression, and with Luffy instantly rushing to apologise, the two of them had it smoothed over in almost no time at all.

And then it happened again.

And again.

Even Sabo had been caught unawares a few times – he knew from first-hand experience that getting hit by Luffy hurt, and resolved that he'd pay proper attention when Luffy was talking, both because it was rude to ignore his brother, and because he didn't want to get thwacked in the face. Still, he had, at least, been hit less than Ace – but Ace was the one who wasn't usually paying attention when Luffy was chattering, anyway.

Like now; Sabo could see from the corner of his eyes that Ace was resting his head on his hand, looking about two seconds from dozing off, and Sabo had to cover his grin with one hand, amusement crinkling up the corners of his eyes.

Ohhh, he was _so _going to get hit. It was only a matter of time.

Watching Ace with one eye as he slowly drifted off to sleep, and Luffy as his gestures got even wilder as he reached the climax of the fight between him and the tiger, Sabo knew when to duck as Luffy's limb went soaring over his head, just missing him.

Ace wasn't so lucky.

Sabo's brother was immediately shoved from his precarious leaning position on the table, and slammed into the wall with what would have been a nasty sounding crack if they were any other children. As it was, Sabo merely winced, and tried to remember where they'd put the hammer. It was likely that they'd need it soon to fix the wall.

Ace's startled and angry yell as he practically hurtled through the hole that he'd caused in the wall was enough to make Sabo wince once more, shivers racing along his shoulders – and he wasn't even the one that the yell was being directed at. "_I'M GOING TO TIE YOU TO A TREE!_" Ace screeched, words finally coming to his lips, but Luffy's mouth had already dropped open in horror, and their young, rubbery sibling had taken to his heels, leaping over the balcony and sprinting away into the forest as Sabo began to laugh at the expressions on his brother's faces.

Even if Luffy hadn't meant it, he knew that his freckled brother was irritated that he was the one constantly caught out by Luffy's wayward limbs, and that he was most certainly not appreciative of being hit across the head every time he didn't pay attention to their youngest brother's stories.

Sabo couldn't say that Ace didn't deserve it, but Luffy did need to practice his control, and so he resolved to try and find their younger brother to make sure Ace hadn't _really _tied him to a tree.

Or, rather he would, once he stopped laughing.


End file.
